The Veterinary Osteoarthritis Congress, which will take place at Holywell Park Conference Centre, Loughborough, on 22nd and 23rd May, is open for registrations.

Congress offers two days of lectures and workshops and up to 14 hours CPD delivered by experts on the most cutting-edge OA management, treatment, techniques and technology.

There is also a large trade exhibition showcasing many of the latest products and services, not to mention a happy hour and gala dinner.

The organisers say veterinary surgeons and nurses, physiotherapists, hydrotherapists, and anyone working to prevent, treat and manage osteoarthritis will find the congress hugely rewarding.

This year there’s a focus on comparative disciplines, including human and equine practice.

Tickets cost from £190 to £370, plus VAT.

www.vet-oa.com/voacon

Cheshire-based Movement Referrals has published it’s Clinical Research Report for 2023, a round-up of the latest research, peer-reviewed papers and publications by its team of four Specialists: Professor John Innes, Ben Walton, Mark Morton and Mark Lowrie.

The papers in the report cover things like: novel, 3D-printed anatomical implants for orthopaedics, osteoarthritis and clinical outcomes measures, movement disorders and Quality Improvement in cruciate ligament surgery.

John said: "For an independent veterinary practice to publish a report like this is, in my experience, novel, and it speaks to the culture and values of our practice.

"All of the references cited in the report are clinical research outputs that are directly relevant to practising vets so I hope this will be a useful collated resource.”

https://www.movementvets.co.uk/about-us/clinical-research 

The Feline Centre at Langford Vets is hosting a day of in-person CPD lectures, masterclasses and practical sessions about feline care for vets on Wednesday 15th May, in Langford, Bristol.

The day also has a stream for veterinary nurses, and another for the whole practice team. 

The vet programme is as follows:

• The Feline Centre Review - Angie Hibbert FIP: The New Era - Emi Barker
• Feline Hip Salvage Surgery - Sorrel Langley-Hobbs
• The Feline Trauma Patient: Car Versus Cats - Tom Hernon
• Perfecting Your Feline POCUS - Ines Lopes Rei
• Help, I'm Feel-ine Neurological: A Case-based Approach - Faye Rawson
• RAI ABC: Frequently Asked Questions - Claudia Gil-Morales and Angie Hibbert
• NSAID Conundrums in Cats: What's the Evidence - Gwen Covey-Crump
• The Anaemic Cat- A Live Case Challenge - Vicki Black (chair) and Jenny Reeve (challenger)
• Feline Lymphoma - Christina Maunder

https://www.langfordvets.co.uk/feline-celebration-day 

Millpledge Veterinary has launched Oculeze, an ocular lubricant.

The new product, which is for the management of any condition where eye health is supported by providing additional moisture or lubrication, is suitable for dogs, cats, horses, rabbits and other animals.

Oculeze contains glycerine (0.8%), Aloe vera, chamomile and propolis extract, the latter of which contains polyphenols which Millpledge says have been shown to support corneal health by multiple mechanisms of action including modulation of the tear film and a reduction in inflammation, apoptosis and oxidative stress¹.  

Millpledge says Oculeze lasts longer on the ocular surface than non-lipid lubricants² because it evaporates more slowly³. 

This prolonged action means fewer administrations, which should help client compliance. 

Oculeze comes in two sizes - a 10 millilitre bottle and a pack of ten resealable 0.6 millilitre vials, suitable for short term use and travel.

The 10ml bottle includes a filter, preserving sterility for up to three months after opening. 

Oculeze is available direct from Millpledge or from your usual wholesaler.

https://millpledge.com/shop/oculeze

sales@millpledge.com

References

1. Favero, G. et al. (2021) Evidence of Polyphenols Efficacy against Dry Eye Disease. Antioxidants 10:190
2. Tsubota K. and Yamada M. (1992) Tear evaporation from the ocular surface. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci.;33(10):2942-50
3. Testing of ophthalmic solutions lubricating properties 2022 09 Department of Polymer Chemistry and Technology, Kaunas University of Technology, 2022 10 Department of Tribology, Vytautas Magnus University

BEVA has launched Back in the Saddle, a six-month coaching programme to support vets who are either returning to work or who want to change tack in some way.

The programme is for vets who are more than five years qualified, and thus not eligible for BEVA’s Leg Up coaching. 

It has been developed in response to numerous BEVA members reporting periods of feeling lost or adrift in their career as life progresses after graduation, particularly following a career break. 

The programme is led by a team of individuals who have experienced the challenges of working in equine practice and have all undergone extensive coaching training.

It takes the form of group sessions where participants can discuss, learn and share knowledge in a workshop style environment.

Lucy Grieve, Veterinary Projects Officer at BEVA said: “Back in the Saddle provides a safe, supportive and encouraging environment to help individuals understand what it is they want from their career, following a break, for example for parental leave or injury.

"By reflecting on their career achievements, learnt skills and professional needs, in the context of their life as it is now, it enables them to prioritise appropriately, create achievable goals, and find their place in the profession again.

“Our coaches are professionally trained, friendly and empathetic, and the nature of group coaching means peer support opens up to all involved.

"This helps counter feelings of isolation and self-doubt and enables a sense of purpose and confidence to return and develop further.” 

The first Back in the Saddle programme starts on 11 June 2024 – applications are now open and will close on 17 May 2024.

https://form.asana.com/?k=5BoRR89NDXQ_CAsWZ-g-HQ&d=11947487954206 

The BVA has submitted a joint response with the BSAVA, SPVS, BVNA and VMG to the Competition and Markets Authority consultation on a proposed market investigation. 

The response offers further evidence concerning the CMA’s potential concerns, and says that voluntary measures relating to transparency of fees and ownership could be introduced before the conclusion of a market investigation.

The BVA has formed a working group to develop guidance on transparency, client choice and the value of veterinary care to support companion animal practices.

British Veterinary Association President Anna Judson, said: “We’re keen to see healthy competition and consumer choice and we recognise that some of the areas identified by the CMA would benefit from further scrutiny.

"We are already taking steps to support vet practices by developing guidance for the profession in relation to transparency of fees, transparency of ownership, prescribing and dispensing of veterinary medicines, and contextualised care.

“However, we are extremely disappointed to see the suggestion in the CMA’s report, as well as in subsequent media reporting, that veterinary professionals might prey on owners’ desire to do the best for their pets by using these circumstances as a “strategy” to promote more sophisticated or expensive treatment.

"Vets enter this high-pressure profession out of genuine care for animals and will always prioritise their health and welfare."

“We also have significant concerns about the suggestion that practices might be mandated to provide information to clients about quality or outcome-related measures.

"We do not see primary concerns about the quality of veterinary treatment and we believe such a requirement would not meaningfully support consumer choice.

"Instead, it would be extremely challenging to deliver and could significantly exacerbate many of the complex issues faced by our members, who are already under significant pressure.

There will be a panel discussion about the CMA investigation at BVA Live this year.

https://bvalive.vetshow.com 

COMMENT

There are lots of good points made in this latest response to the CMA, if no more than a nod to the real issue here: which is the often eye-watering cost of modern veterinary care. 

But it is hugely disappointing to see the BVA (and others) berating the CMA and the media for suggesting that vets might prey on owners' desire to do the best for their pet, rather than asking WHY people think that, and how can the profession regain trust.

That, surely, is the starting point here: for the profession to stop feeling sorry for itself, and instead think how it can change to meet the needs of its customers and dispel their perception of being taken for a ride.

The CMA investigation is a bit of a red herring: the price of veterinary care is not going to be significantly changed by displaying the prices for a few standard procedures on practice websites, with greater transparency over practice ownership or with slightly cheaper prescriptions, all of which is just tinkering. 

The biggest influence on the size of the client's bill is not marketplace competition, it's the vet's recommendation.

Paul Manktelow, Chief Vet at the Blue Cross has already hit the nail square on the head when he called on the profession to practise pragmatic medicine. 

The BVA now alludes to this with talk in its response of 'contextualised care' - a concept which allows practitioners to offer pragmatic medicine (aka what people can afford, rather than 'gold standard'), without the judgement that it is inherently associated with.

The benefits of 'contextualised care' are well explained by Ruth Serlin at VDS Training here. 

That's great, but will it be enough? 

Perhaps not, because whilst someone might be happy to walk out of the car showroom with a Dacia Sandero knowing they cannot afford a Bentley, they may be less happy to accept the Dacia level of care for their beloved pet, when they watched 'Supervet' only the night before.

If that's true, then pragmatic medicine will have to be combined with all sorts of other measures, such as reviewing and reducing the cost of regulation, questioning the value of diagnostics and changing to a less 'referall' (sic) culture. 

Vetpartners is offering grants to support those of its vets who want to boost their clinical skills by doing veterinary work overseas.

The veterinary group is stumping up more than £100,000 for the initiative, which will enable 20 vets and nurses, and 56 new grads from across the group to work with the Worldwide Veterinary Service (WVS) and other overseas animal charities.

The grants are for £1,500 and those taking part will also get up to one week of paid time off work whilst they volunteer.

VetPartners CEO Jo Malone said: “We wanted to support colleagues to have a fantastic experience while improving their skills in a different environment.

"It will give people a chance to use their clinical skills to give back to charities which are doing great work.

“If you’re working in a veterinary practice in Europe, you have support from team members around you and great facilities and equipment compared to the more challenging conditions working for a charity overseas.

"Working in these more challenging environments while they are volunteering will help build resilience, as our team members are unlikely to have experienced anything like this before.

“Charities like the World Veterinary Service are working ethically to help animals that may or may not have ever had veterinary care, and are doing a great job so we are delighted to support them.”

CVS Group reports that over the past week, its UK operations have been significantly disrupted after a number of its IT systems were hacked.

The company says that as soon as it discovered the unauthorised external access to its systems, it took them offline and started working to contain the threat. 

Specialist third party consultants have been engaged to investigate the nature and extent of the incident and CVS has also informed the relevant authorities, including the Information Commissioner’s Office, because of the risk of malicious access to personal information. 

The company says the majority of IT services for its practices and business functions have now been restored, but due to the increased levels of security and monitoring, some systems are not working as efficiently as before.

CVS also says that as a result of the incident, it is bringing forward plans to migrate its practice management system and related IT infrastructure to the cloud.

Analysis of the incident is ongoing and CVS says it will provide a further update in due course.

The BSAVA has published a series of client information leaflets about the care and welfare of reptile species most commonly kept in the UK.

Data for 2023 from UK Pet Food research found that around 5% of UK households own a reptile, up from 3.4% in 2022.

The new leaflets have been created using information from the BSAVA Manual of Reptiles and reviewed by Simon Girling, reptile specialist at The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.

They cover things like housing, feeding, handling, medication and spotting health concerns, and are now available for veterinary surgeons to download and print out for clients thinking about getting a reptile.

There are currently leaflets for the following species:

• Bearded dragons
• Crested geckos
• Leopard geckos
• Iguanas
• Snakes
• Tortoises
• Terrapins 

BSAVA members can download the leaflets free from the BSAVA library.  

Subscription access for 12 months to BSAVA’s collection of over 170 client information leaflets is available to non-members for £40+VAT here.

Virbac has launched Pyoderm, an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal dermatological shampoo for dogs and cats.

Containing 3% m/v Chlorhexidine, Pyoderm is designed to support the natural microbial balance of the skin whilst delivering gentle yet effective cleansing.

Along with the rest of Virbac's range of dermatological and everyday care shampoos, Pyoderm is presented in 250ml eco-friendly bottles which are made from 100% recycled plastic and recyclable packaging.

The shampoos themselves are also biodegradable. 

https://uk.virbac.com/

A team of veterinary surgeons based outside Birmingham has performed the world’s first body transplant in a dog. 

The procedure was performed on a 13-year-old Siberian Husky called Marigold, which was diagnosed with a malignant mammary tumour last year.

Unfortunately, despite £20,000 worth of radiotherapy, Marigold failed to respond to treatment, and the tumour spread. 

Marigold’s owner, Mrs Norma Pophosherti from Derby said: “We couldn’t bear to part with Marigold, she’s one of the family, so when we heard about the groundbreaking work being done at the University of Bromsgrove Veterinary School, we had to give it a go." 

Unfortunately there was no realistic prospect of a donor from a matching breed of dog.

Thankfully, though, a local man with a 4-year-old Labrador stepped forward to help. 

Hit by the cost of living crisis, he’d been unable to afford to keep his dog and was about to have it put to sleep when he heard about the Phophosherti family’s search for a donor.

Although he wished to remain anonymous, he said: “It gives me great comfort to think that Buddy will be able to live on, and spare the Phophoshertis from the pain of losing their beloved Marigold”

Professor Flora Olip MRCVS led a team of 6 veterinary surgeons who undertook the 28 hour procedure, which is estimated to have cost over £100,000. 

She said: “This was a very tricky procedure which probably only had a 30% chance of success.

"But I’m delighted to say that Marigold’s new body has taken well, and she can now look forward to perhaps a whole more year with Phophosherti family, albeit as less of a Siberian Husky, and more of what you might call a Huskador"

Flora added: “More importantly, this heralds the way for similar procedures in humans, which I think are probably just a few years away now.”

Photo: Marigold, now one-third Siberian Husky, two-thirds Labrador.

The RCVS is inviting vets to a focus group to look at the profession's needs for a Specialist GP status and contribute to the development of a curriculum on Friday 3rd May 2024 between 9.30am and 4.30pm at the Woburn House Conference Centre.

Dr Linda Prescott-Clements, RCVS Director of Education, said: “The overall aim of this event is to gather stakeholders' thoughts and insights on the need for GP specialty training, the potential impact and advantages to the profession as well as any potential risks.

"Those in attendance will also discuss what appropriate content for this training should be and explore potential learning environments, and prerequisites for how the training might be implemented”.

“After an introduction to the VCCP project, we will then be asking participants to consider some of the key questions around the development of this curriculum.

"This includes: establishing the overarching purpose of the training programme with reference to the needs of the workforce, the profession and veterinary care services; identifying appropriate areas of content for the training; identifying suitable learning environments; and establishing consideration of the required mechanisms of supervision and support.

“In terms of attendees, we are very keen to have a good mix of people including those working in independent veterinary practices as well as corporate environments, those working in general practice, Advanced Practitioners, Specialists and those who work in the education sector.

"The focus groups will be on interactivity, finding solutions and building engagement – we want all voices to be heard and all ideas to be shared.”

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/rcvs-veterinary-clinical-career-pathways-stakeholder-focus-group-tickets-873231397617?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

COMMENT

Given the above-inflation rise in the cost of veterinary care, leading to the Competition and Markets Review and the proposed Formal Market Investigation, is now really the moment to be adding yet another layer of training and qualification, with attendant costs which will ultimately be borne by the pet-owning public?

And where is the need for a Specialist status for general practitioners?

Isn't one of the biggest issues facing general practitioners today the referall (sic) culture which has developed in recent years, leading to the deskilling of GPs, reduced job satisfaction and increased costs for pet owners?

Isn't it now the time to call a halt to further specialisation and instead focus on cutting costs, reducing the regulatory burden, and encouraging all GPs to regain lost skills so they can all deliver first class, affordable, pragmatic care for the masses?

Just a thought.